Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff listens to Dallas Stars center Rich Peverley (17) deliver a statement during a press conference at UT Southwestern in Dallas, on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. Peverley will not play the remainder of this season as he gets treated for his heart condition.

Jim Nill has been through this before, and he knows the decisions won’t be easy.

The new Dallas Stars general manager was an assistant GM with Detroit when Jiri Fischer had a cardiac event in a game in November 2005. Fischer sought treatment, had surgery, and ended up never playing again. He was 25 when his career ended.

Stars forward Rich Peverley had a cardiac event Monday that will force him to shut down his season, doctors said Wednesday. Peverley will have surgery, and there’s no prognosis yet on whether he might be able to continue his NHL career.

And that’s a scary thing.

But Nill also knows that having Peverley at the news conference was a positive thing. The 31-year-old forward looked in good health and was thankful for the quick medical care he received. He read a brief statement thanking all concerned, shook the hands of the doctors and departed.

But it was clear the sight of a healthy Peverley was reassuring.

“The last couple of days have been a lot of anxiety, a lot of unknown,” Nill said. “It turns out it’s a great day. To walk in here and see Rich Peverley walking in with us, I don’t think you get a much better day than that.”

Fischer, 33, is the director of player personnel for the Red Wings and worked with Nill for several years. Nill said while Fischer had to end his playing career, he is enjoying his post-playing career.

“I know Jiri, and he’s doing well; he has a normal life,” Nill said. “It was a life-changing experience. It changed him and made him a better person, and it’s going to do the same for Rich.”

Peverley has many important decisions going forward, like what kind of procedure to have — he is scheduled to have ablation surgery to remove tissue from the heart — to whether he wants to play again.

The process of coming to the decision to retire was not an easy one for Fischer, who has reached out to Peverley. He told Yahoo Sports that he doesn’t know Peverley’s situation, but he added that it will change things his life.

“Everybody that cares worries. Everybody that cares wants to help,” Fischer told Yahoo Sports. “There is no quick fix. There is a long recovery process — a long recovery physically, a long recovery emotionally. Everyone in Rich’s life who cares will be affected one way or another.”

Even Stars players said one of the toughest things to deal with was the fact Peverley’s wife, Nathalie, and son, Frederik, were at the game Monday.

“That’s the biggest thing for players,” said veteran winger Ray Whitney. “You wish the best for Rich obviously, but you feel for his wife and family at the time; it’s very traumatic.”

Nill said his plan is to be as patient as possible with all decisions. Peverley is expected to have surgery within the week in Cleveland, and there are different options that have a history of positive results. That said, those results are also unpredictable.

“The effectiveness varies,” said Dr. Sharon Reimold, professor of internal medicine-cardiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. “The ultimate success is if a patient has no recurrent atrial fibrillations and they have no symptoms.”

And that’s where Peverley will have to be to even consider playing again. In addition to his own concerns and the concerns of his family, the Stars and the NHL will have to be on board with going back on the ice.

Peverley had the option of having ablation surgery in September, but declined.

“It likely would keep him out for two, three months, maybe longer,” said Dr. Robert J. Dimeff, director of medical services for the Stars. “And so he said, ‘I'm new to the team. It’s a new coach, a new general manager. I only have a two-year contract. They've got to know that I can play this game,’ and that sort of thing. So we went back and forth.”

Dimeff said the decision was made by Peverley and the doctors to treat the irregular heartbeat with medication and plan surgery after the season.

“That was a joint decision, an informed decision on his part,” Dimeff said.

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